Our Mission: We provide alternative pathways for at-risk youth, restoring a positive connection with the community, thereby creating a safer, healthier Chatham-Kent.
Restorative Justice Chatham-Kent is a thriving community-oriented, incorporated non-profit and charitable organization (Registered Charity # 889010203RR0001). The alternative pathways we provide to at-risk youth in the community are achieved through our Extrajudicial Measures Program (Pre-Charge Diversion, Police-referred), Extrajudicial Sanctions Program (Post-Charge Diversion, Crown Attorney-referred) and Restorative Justice Community Conferencing. These programs are funded by the Ministry of Children, Community & Social Services; the EJM and EJS Programs are only available to youth (12-17) who have come into contact with the law, and have a minor criminal offence charge pending or within the court system, under the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA).
These alternative pathways are also provided through our Positive Strides Intervention & Educational Programs. Funding support from the United Way of Chatham-Kent and the Ontario Trillium Foundation (in the past), allows for us to provide FREE individualized and one-on-one sessions through our Positive Strides Programs. The wide range of program modules that we offer under this umbrella are available to any child or youth (7-17) in the community who are not currently in conflict with the law, but who are at risk for delinquent, negative behaviours, and may be struggling in school, at home, and/or within their social environments. These programs are also delivered to the youth who are enrolled in the EJM and EJS Programs.
Should you require services in French, please call the office at 519-380-0931 and ask to speak to the Executive Director, or connect via email at info@rjck.org, and arrangements can be made.
NOTE: At this time, only those programs funded by the Ministry of Children, Community & Social Services can be delivered in French, upon request. This includes the Extrajudicial Measures (EJM) Program, Extrajudicial Sanctions (EJS) Program, and Restorative Justice Community Conferencing.
Restorative Justice Chatham-Kent acknowledges that the land in which we live and work has been the site of human activity since time immemorial. The land that is known as Chatham-Kent today is the traditional land of the Three Fires Confederacy: the Odawa, Potawatami and Ojibwe. These Indigenous Nations, known as the Anishinaabeg and Lunaapeew, agreed to the mutual sharing of the land, with obligations and responsibilities to the environment. Chatham-Kent neighbours the Lunaapeew at Delaware Nation which is part of the McKee Purchase Treaty, as well as the unceded territory of the Bkejwanong Walpole Island First Nation. Chatham-Kent continues to be home to diverse First Nations Peoples and Métis Peoples. This land was settled through the McKee Purchase Treaty of 1790 and we, as beneficiaries of the treaty, recognize our responsibilities including our collective responsibilities to the land and water.
We are all treaty people. Many of us have come here as settlers, immigrants, newcomers in this generation or generations past. We are mindful of broken covenants and we strive to make this right, with the land and with each other, and honour the rights of Indigenous people.
We also acknowledge those of us who came here involuntarily, particularly as a result of the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade. And so we honour and pay tribute to the ancestors of African Origin and descent whom also continue to live the impacts of colonization in solidarity with Indigenous peoples.
At Restorative Justice Chatham-Kent, we recognize that Canadian Criminal Justice systems have a history of harming indigenous and racialized communities, and we work to lift up those communities and their efforts.
Restorative justice, although recently popularized in Western approaches to criminal justice reform, has deep roots in indigenous peacemaking. Global indigenous communities have a long-standing history of living in alignment with what we now refer to as restorative justice, and Restorative Justice Chatham-Kent recognizes that the work that we do benefits from this profound knowledge and history.
For more information:
Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action:
https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf
If we can improve upon this statement, please contact andrea@rjck.org
